- //UPDATE 1(02/06/2020 4:41 pm) Removed from the Play Store
Mitron – a TikTok clone that masqueraded its way to Google Play’s Top Charts with over 50 lakh installations for being an “Indian app”, seems to be a replica of a Pakistani app called ‘TicTic’ made by an organization named Qboxus.
As reported first by CNN-Information18, the app’s source code was purchased by an IIT Roorkee student named Shivank Agarwal for $34 (~Rs.2,600). In different words, Mitron is a clone of TicTic, which is a clone of TikTok.
While Irfan Sheikh – founder, and CEO of Qboxus doesn’t have an issue with the app getting unprecedented consideration due to the YouTube vs TikTok chaos going on within the nation, he doesn’t like the truth that Mitron is being promoted as an Indian app since Agarwal has apparently not carried out any main changes in the app’s interface.
“We expect our customers to use our code and construct something on their own. But Mitron’s developer has taken our exact product, modified the logo and uploaded it on their store.”, Sheikh told News18.
“There is no problem with what the developer has done. He paid for the script and used it, which is okay. However, the issue is with folks referring to it as an Indian-made app, which isn’t true particularly because they haven’t made any changes.”, he added.
The issue doesn’t finish right here. Whereas TikTok is consistently being criticized for its shady privacy policies, Mitron doesn’t have a privacy coverage, to begin with.
Actually, a separate APK teardown of the Mitron app by The Quint discovered that the consumer knowledge and movies are stored in an Amazon Web Services S3 instance server. The app appears to be speaking with a web site called Shopkiller for its API calls. They have been also capable of finding leftover traces within the code that associates Mitron with TicTic.
When negative campaigns of TikTok turned viral resulting in a dramatic drop in TikTok’s ratings, Google took a stand and removed millions of negative reviews. It will be fascinating to see if Mitron will get removed from Google Play within the coming days.
Replace 1 (02/06/2020 4:41 pm)
Following privacy and safety issues, Google has removed viral TikTok clone ‘Mitron’ from Play Store.
As reported by CNBC-TV18, the app has been removed for violating Google Play’s ‘spam and minimal functionality’ policy.
